Tuesday, 25 July 2017

European Attendances : 1995-2017

The series on the history of elite European attendances in the Super League competition has come to a close. It started back for the 1995-99 period which can be seen by clicking here. Some may decry the current attendance figures but how have gone for the last 20 odd years?

The chart below is divided into five year bites both for space limitations and to take out yearly fluctuations. From this an interesting trend emerges. The 1995-99 period, Super League attendances were a very ordinary 6,440. The 2000-04 went up to 7,410, then 2005-09 a record 9,370. It fell back to 8,770 between 2010-14 but the last three years (less the Super 8s in 2017) it has come back to 9,230. So they are much improved to say twenty years ago.

Clearly there has been an improvement across the board. Why has it seemly hit a ceiling? The most obvious reason is many towns have reached a saturation point that will be hard to make gains of much substance in future. The loss of Bradford was a blow as well. So what can move it along?

New clubs like Toronto could have much larger gate numbers if the public interest lifts as the standard of opposition teams improves with promotion upwards. Another club from France would be welcome but is unlikely to improve the average. If some rich billionaires do a Toronto and introduce clubs to cities such as New York, Moscow, Turin and Barcelona then that would be another chance to lift the average. Of course, cities in the UK such as Bath/Bristol could come into the mix.

In other words, if the game stays as it is regarding teams based in North English towns then now will be as good as it gets. Spreading the net wider is an obvious way forward. RL should always keep its roots in the North of England and some teams along the M62 corridor should be in the top flight. However, there is scope for expansion and that is something the game needs.

It would bring in more gate receipts and result in improved TV deals as a wider audience becomes familiar with this exciting game. Sponsorship opportunities would improve. RL is physical and the players are not that well compensated financially in comparison to other professional games. I think the attendance number highlights the need for moving Super League to another level of exposure.

SL Attendances 1995-17

Rk

Team

15-17

10-14

05-09

00-04

95-99

1

Leeds

15,288

15,113

16,613

13,232

11,021

2

Wigan

13,519

15,376

14,598

10,996

9,942

3

Hull FC

11,321

12,071

12,511

8,410

4,999

4

St Helens

11,148

11,239

10,613

9,444

8,190

5

Warrington

10,272

10,726

10,100

7,226

5,009

6

Catalan

8,764

8,080

8,062

-

-

7

Hull KR

7,698

7,937

8,079

-

-

8

Castleford

7,744

6,756

7,362

7,230

5,398

9

Leigh

6,301

-

4,736

-

-

10

Widnes

5,673

6,020

6,794

6,371

-

11

Huddersfield

5,694

6,995

6,775

4,040

4,436

12

Wakefield

4,699

6,561

6,040

4,142

4,181

13

Salford

3,766

4,478

4,642

4,232

4,800

14

Bradford

-

9,766

11,351

13,257

11,585

15

Crusaders

-

3,997

3,668

-

-

16

London

-

2,559

3,913

3,458

3,953

17

Halifax

-

-

-

4,411

4,933

18

Paris SG

-

-

-

-

6,768

19

Sheffield

-

-

-

-

4,024

20

Gateshead

-

-

-

-

3,888

21

Oldham

-

-

-

-

3,453

22

Workington

-

-

-

-

2,544

Total

8,981

8,770

9,369

7,411

6,443

The list was updated 14/11/17 to cover the full 2017 season. It covers the super 8's matches for those sides that participated in them and all the qualifier games.